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Long gone are the days of relying solely on focus groups, polls and pure intuition of executives and business owners to fuel the decisions made about their products, services and business functions. Today, consumers are more likely to use social media as well as online reviews and forums to share opinions. This consumer sentiment must not only be heard by brands, but reacted to accordingly and in a timely manner.

Social sentiment technology allows businesses to hear and respond to the feedback of their customers and would-be customers. It's a valuable exchange for businesses because it allows them to more effectively give people what they are asking for--and to increase opportunities for success in the process.

How It Works

Social sentiment technology comes in many forms, including monitoring patterns in messaging on Twitter, cloud-based analytics suites like Sysomos or a social media monitoring engine like the one used for the NYSE. Each of these technologies is used to identify trends in natural language to help provide the end user with actionable insights as to what sentiment is being expressed by the majority of users regarding particular topics.

Businesses that take the time to listen to customer feedback -- and react with the help of social sentiment technology -- stand to win big in developing a relationship with its audience.

"Consumers see responsive brands as caring and trustworthy; a brand's response to a negative review made 41% consumers think that the brand really cared about the consumers," said Neville Letzerich, executive vice president of product marketing at social intelligence solution provider Bazaarvoice, noting recent internal research.

Monitor and Respond Quickly to Reviews

Bazaarvoice works with companies like , Dyson, GE, and more to capture and respond to customer reviews, feedback and ratings. suite of products allows clients to monitor and approve reviews and other feedback, and to answer any customer questions, comments or concerns.

According to Letzerich, consumers tend to buy products that have more reviews on them, which is one of the many reasons it is so important to act quickly and respond to negative reviews and feedback using this type of technology.

Increase Sales Through Added Credibility

Bazaarvoice also helps to surface customer reviews on sites where a product is sold. For example, reviews of a Samsung product on a Samsung site can be made to appear on the websites of retailers such as Best Buy so that consumers can more easily use the reviews to make purchase decisions.

According to Letzerich, when customers interact with brands using Bazaarvoice's on-site Q&A functionality, their average order value increases 113%. A business can aim to achieve credibility today with both the presence of positive customer reviews on its retail site, alongside the organization's willingness to communicate with consumers on a regular basis.

Improved Marketing Campaigns

Social sentiment technology allows businesses to make better decisions about product development, customer service and integrated marketing campaigns. For example, beauty retailer Bare Escentuals took reviews of products rated most wanted by their customers and highlighted them in a marketing campaign through online ads, retail store signage and on its website.

The campaign, fueled by the feedback of customers, resulted in a huge increase in page traffic and double-digit growth in conversions.

A Strong Context is Required

However, sentiment alone doesn't provide the full consumer perspective, said Marshall Sponder, social media and web analyst and instructor at Baruch College and Rutgers University. Sponder suggests that it's only one piece of the larger puzzle when it comes to reacting to customer insights.

Companies should also be looking for, and integrating feedback from, email, live chat, in person and through other one-to-one communications with customers.

"Big data is the opposite of the individual moment, but is equally valuable," said Sponder. "If we spend all day responding just to what we experience in individual moments we would largely miss the larger patterns that big data promises to uncover and leverage."